Do you have any costumes from the Broadway Musical "Cats"?

Presentation of a costume of Mr. Mistoffelees from the Broadway Musical "Cats".

Collection Object:

"Mistoffelees" Jacket

subject

Musical Theater

Data Source

National Museum of American History

designer

Napier, John

Physical Description

velvet (overall material)

rhinestones (overall material)

Measurements

overall: 40.6 cm x 50.8 cm; 16 in x 20 in

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Culture and the Arts: Entertainment

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Description

Achieving an eighteen-year run of 7,397 consecutive performances at Manhattan's Winter Garden Theatre, CATS is one of the longest-running musicals in Broadway history. The show, which premiered in London in 1981, is the work of composer-impresario Andrew Lloyd Webber, who envisioned a musical based on poet T. S. Eliot's work, Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats. The original London and New York productions were enhanced by designer John Napier's imaginative scenery and costumes. This costume, from the Broadway production, was created for the character of Mr. Mistoffelees, "the original conjuring cat." Primarily made of black velvet, the costume contains multiple miniature light bulbs that can be activated by metal plates attached to its gloves.